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Legal Ethics Keyed to Rhode, 8th Ed.
Upjohn Co. v. United States
Citation:
449 U.S. 383 (1981)Facts
In 1976, Upjohn Company discovered that one of its foreign subsidiaries had made payments to foreign government officials to secure business. The company’s General Counsel, Gerard Thomas, initiated an internal investigation that included sending questionnaires to foreign managers and conducting interviews with 86 employees. The investigation was conducted to gather information so Thomas could provide legal advice to Upjohn regarding compliance with securities and tax laws. Upjohn voluntarily disclosed the existence of these “questionable payments” to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the IRS. Subsequently, the IRS issued a summons demanding all files related to the internal investigation, including questionnaires and interview notes. Upjohn refused to produce these documents, claiming they were protected by attorney-client privilege and constituted attorney work product prepared in anticipation of litigation.
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